Key takeaways
- A redpoint is a clean lead ascent — no falls, no weighting the rope — after practicing the route.
- It's the benchmark for 'sending' a hard route you've worked on (rehearsed moves, dialed beta).
- Differs from an onsight (clean first try, zero prior knowledge) and a flash (first try, with beta).
- Redpointing lets climbers push their limit by learning a route before the clean ascent.
From German 'Rotpunkt' (red point), coined by climber Kurt Albert, who painted a red dot at the base of routes he had climbed free.
What a redpoint is
To redpoint a route is to lead it cleanly — from the ground to the anchor, clipping or placing all protection, with no falls and without resting on the rope or gear — after having practiced it. Redpointing is how climbers send routes near their physical limit: by working the moves over multiple attempts until they can link the whole thing in one clean go.
Redpoint vs onsight vs flash
All three are clean lead ascents; the difference is how much you knew beforehand:
- Onsight — first try, zero prior knowledge (the most prized).
- Flash — first try, but using beta.
- Redpoint — after practicing the route.
A sport climber falls repeatedly on a route at their limit, working out the hardest sequence over several sessions. Once they can do every move, they tie in, climb it bottom-to-top with no falls — and call it their redpoint.
Where the word comes from
The term comes from the German Rotpunkt (‘red point’), coined by Kurt Albert, who painted a red dot at the base of routes he’d climbed free. It’s now core sport-climbing vocabulary for a clean, practiced send.
The bottom line
A redpoint is the clean, no-falls lead ascent of a route you've practiced — the standard way climbers send hard routes at their limit. Knowing it apart from the onsight (clean, no knowledge, first try) and flash (first try with beta) is key to understanding climbing's styles, which rank ascents by how much you knew before you succeeded.
Frequently asked questions
What does redpoint mean in climbing?
To redpoint a route is to lead it cleanly from bottom to top — placing or clipping all protection, with no falls and without resting on the rope or gear — after having practiced it. It's how climbers 'send' routes near their limit that they couldn't do first try, by rehearsing the moves first.
What's the difference between a redpoint, onsight, and flash?
All three are clean lead ascents with no falls. An onsight is done first try with no prior knowledge of the route; a flash is first try but using beta (advice or having watched others); a redpoint is after practicing or working the route over multiple attempts. Onsighting is the most prized because it allows no rehearsal.
Where does the term redpoint come from?
It comes from the German 'Rotpunkt', coined by climber Kurt Albert in the 1970s. He painted a red dot (Rotpunkt) at the base of routes he had managed to climb free without weighting gear, and the term evolved into 'redpoint' for a clean, practiced free ascent.
Sources
- Climbing styles & ethics — American Alpine Club
- Climbing terminology — UIAA